Form 26AS — Annual Tax Statement

Form 26AS is your consolidated tax-credit statement on the e-Filing portal — it shows the tax already paid against your PAN through TDS, TCS, advance tax and self-assessment tax.

What it is

Form 26AS is a single statement that brings together every kind of tax credit linked to your PAN for the year. It lists TDS deducted by employers, banks and others, TCS collected by sellers, any advance tax and self-assessment tax you paid yourself, and certain refunds already issued. Think of it as the official scoreboard of tax already on your account.

Why it matters

Before you prepare a return, Form 26AS is what you use to verify that the tax you believe was deducted actually reached the government against your PAN. Every credit you claim should be backed by an entry here. It works hand in hand with the wider AIS — 26AS focuses on tax credits, while the AIS adds the underlying income. Matching the two before filing reduces the risk of a credit being denied or a mismatch notice.

Example Illustrative

Suppose your Form 26AS shows ₹40,000 of salary TDS, ₹2,000 of FD-interest TDS and ₹15,000 of advance tax — a total of ₹57,000 paid. When you prepare your return, you claim that ₹57,000 against your final liability, and any excess over the tax due comes back as a refund. Figures are illustrative only.